Daily Times

With an unbelievable deficit of $8 million registered in the balance sheet for the month of September, the current account slightly missed market expectations of a surplus. These surprising turn of events are nothing but music to the ears of those used to hearing about doom and gloom. Going beyond the cursory celebrations, it would do well to remember how this figure was reached on the basis of limiting imports and a pivotal increase in remittances. That export earnings remained almost flat and there remained widespread speculation about a surplus should be taken into consideration as the authorities remain tight-lipped on the increasing chokehold on local industries.

Any prolonging of the situation may increase the unemployment rate, which is already close to 10 per cent; pushing millions of households below the poverty line. World Bank has already sounded alarm bells on repeated occasions on how record high food and energy prices, weak labour markets and flood-related damages have opened spillways while inflation is projected to remain high at 26.5 per cent in fiscal year 2024.

Because food inflation forms the crux of headline figures and the common man is tired of profusely bleeding at the altar for the sake of its representatives, it is extremely necessary for the government to carve out a blueprint that strikes at the heart of this menace. Though policymakers don’t have a magic wand to cover the gaping holes, effective coordination between provincial and federal governments can make it easier to keep a check on food inflation. There’s an utter meltdown as widespread displacement has torn family structures to the seams. The pain is being felt most severely by those living on low incomes. As tens of thousands sleep with empty bellies and millions are worried about whether they will have a roof on their heads next month, it is becoming increasingly clear that these horror shows cannot be allowed to continue any longer. *